Porn industry rallies to oppose mandatory condom use

The debate over mandatory condom use in adult films has heated up again, with a delegation of porn stars traveling to Sacramento, California this week to rally against a proposed law that is slowly making its way through the state capitol.

Members of the Free Speech Coalition, which lobbies on behalf of
hundreds of adult performers, delivered a petition with an
estimated 500 signatures to Sacramento lawmakers asking them to
vote against the bill, known as AB 1576.

The overwhelming majority of pornographic movies filmed in the US
are done so in California, a state that performers have
threatened to leave if undue restrictions are levied on their
industry.

Despite the scarcity of customers who would admit to consuming
pornographic media, a conservative evaluation of the sex
industry’s worth sits at approximately $8 billion as of 2012,
according to the Internet accountability and filtering
organization Covenant Eyes. That rough estimate would put
porn – including video sales and rentals, internet, cable,
pay-per-view, hotel viewings, mobile, phone sex, exotic dance
clubs, and magazines – on par with the bottled water industry.

Now, though, California lawmakers hope to intervene with AB 1576.
Sponsored by Assemblymember Isadore Hall III (D-Los Angeles), the
measure would require porn actors to wear condoms at all film
shoots, mandate testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and
force porn studios to keep a “log” of all porn stars’
“sexual activities” performed on-set, according to
Los Angeles Weekly.

The bill is an expansion of the Los Angeles mandate that was
approved by voters in 2012 forcing performers to use condoms.
However California health department officials said that
unprotected sex is still common in the industry because
investigations into the matter are based only on complaints. If
an adult film maker is caught not using condom they are issued
citations.

Inspiration for the bill came after a number of syphilis
outbreaks forced the production studios, many of which are
located in the San Fernando Valley, to shut down for weeks at a
time.

The veteran performer known as Mr. Marcus admitted responsibility
for one of the outbreaks and, while it is unknown where he
contracted the disease, he did confess to altering his medical
test in order to perform at least two scenes while infected.
Nearly a dozen performers would ultimately contract syphilis
before Mr. Marcus admitted what he’d done, which would ultimately
cost him 30 days in jail.

The Free Speech Coalition argues that forcing actors to use
condoms is a violation of their free speech by dictating the type
of entertainment they are ultimately allowed to produce. That
line of reasoning has proved unsuccessful in the past, although
the past difficulty has done nothing to dampen the industry’s
anger.

“This is an insulting and paternalistic bill,” said porn
star Lorelei Lee, as quoted by LA Weekly. “This shows a total
disregard for performers’ autonomy and threatens a vital safety
infrastructure that we have spent ten years building. AB1576
squanders resources addressing a problem that doesn’t exist. If
the bill becomes law, it will, in fact, harm the people it claims
it will protect.”

Others assert that the regulations will only force now-legitimate
porn productions underground. They also say the current
twice-a-month STD tests are effective, with Mr. Marcus only able
to spread syphilis by lying on his exam.

Actress Kayden Kross said that, because of the amount of sex
performers have, condom use could actually itself become
hazardous, either by creating skin irritiation or contributing to
other problems.

“Condoms are made for home environments, normal sex and
normal time frames,” she testified to a state legislature in
April.

“We are a small community, and not always political, but
outrage has come from all areas of the industry – gay, straight,
trans, fetish, studio and independent – to fight against a bill
that criminalizes sex between consenting adults,” said Diane
Duke, the leader of the Free Speech Coalition.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has led the charge, arguing that a
federal law designed to protect employees from being exposed to
pathogens demands that protection is used. Foundation
spokesperson Ged Kenslea told the San Francisco Bay Guardian that the porn
industry has sought to prevent losing viewers who do not like
watching porn with condoms by demonizing the legislation.

He said the industry falsely claims that angry performers are
saying that “there will be goggles and space suits.”

“This is middle ground, but this is poking the bear,”
Kenslea said. “In fact that won’t be what AB 1576 would
require.”

AB 1576 passed through the Assembly Committee on Appropriations
with 9 votes in favor and 3 opposed Wednesday. The proposal is
now scheduled to go to the full assembly, possibly as soon as
next week, where it would only need 41 out of 80 votes to pass.